


Into the Unknown

by Cixalea



Series: Linked Universe [4]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, I think I saw someone call her Artemis and I really like that, I watched Frozen 2 and naturally wrote fic for LU, I'm not sure what Warrior's Zelda's fandom name is, another fic about how the Links came together, duh - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21807103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cixalea/pseuds/Cixalea
Summary: Another take on how the Links were summoned into the same realm.
Relationships: Sky/Sun, Time/Malon, oblivious!Warrior/Zelda, oblivious!Wind/Tetra, onesided!Twilight/Midna
Series: Linked Universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1555531
Comments: 15
Kudos: 184





	1. Four, Sky, Warrior, Time, Wind

_ I can hear you but I won't  
_ _ Some look for trouble while others don't _

The humming, the tense song building in the air, was constant. He hadn’t heard it before, but after it played for several hours, he’d memorized it. He wondered what it meant, but he figured he would find out soon enough.

Link found his eyes jump to the window every time someone passed in front of his shop. Any day now he knew Princess Zelda would show up and summon him to investigate whatever this mystery tune was. 

He’d learned from his past adventures. He had already caused so many problems while trying to fix others that he knew he’d better wait until he got as much of the full story as possible before he went.

The song was soft and wordless, wafting on the air with an instrument he couldn’t quite place. He wondered if it was Vaati again or some other wind-related minion of his. Nothing he couldn’t handle.

He found himself hammering the sword he was currently forging to the beat of the music. He felt a little restless inside in anticipation of the inevitable new quest, but working at the forge always seemed to put him at ease.

He looked up toward the window again. He thought he saw a flash of Zelda’s blonde hair, but it wasn’t her. Not yet anyway.

He took a deep inhale as he dunked the glowing sword in water. He was as ready as he’d ever be for this next adventure. He just had to be patient a little longer.

* * *

_ There's a thousand reasons I should go about my day  
_ _ And ignore your whispers which I wish would go away, oh _

“Where’s that song coming from?”

“Oh, sorry. You know I like to hum. I guess I didn’t realize how loud I was being.” Zelda smiled. Soft, angelic, beautiful.

Link shook his head, almost forgetting what he was even talking about. “No, not you. Someone’s playing music. Can’t you hear it?”

Zelda put down the spoon Sky had carved (just as he had all the furniture in their tiny, unfinished house) and listened closely. Something had been disturbing Link’s sleep last night. He hadn’t said it was a vision, but she was almost too afraid to ask.

“Can’t you hear it?” 

Link bumped into the side of the table as he abruptly walked out the front door of their house. It was Zelda’s quick reflex that prevented the eggs from rolling off and breaking on the floor.

“Link, where are you going?” she called as she brushed the flour off the front of her dress and followed him.

Link was just outside pacing in circles, his eyes closed in concentration. “I think I know this song.”

“I don’t hear—”

“It’s that song the dragons taught me but different.”

Zelda paled. “The Hero’s Song?”

“Yes, and no. It sounds...instead of happy and hopeful,” Link tilted his hand back and forth, “it’s dark and a little scary.”

“Like it’s in a minor key?”

He shrugged and raked a hand through his hair in frustration.

Zelda sighed. He had such an ear for music, but he didn’t pay much attention in class. She walked back into their house to retrieve a harp. When she came back to find him, he’d wandered down the path eyes closed as if sleepwalking. She jogged over to him and pulled him back before he walked into a tree.

“Is it like this?” She played a short bit of the melody in a minor key, and Link’s eyes flew open.

“That’s exactly what it sounds like! Just not on a harp.”

She saw the distracted look in his gaze and the subtle way his ears twitched. She didn’t doubt he was hearing something, but the fact that she the goddess’s reincarnation couldn’t hear it meant that it was specifically calling to Link. And she wasn’t sure which part of her—Hylia or Zelda—was most scared by this.

“Please, Link, let’s go back inside. We still have to finish cooking supper.” She took his hand and tugged him.

His expression visibly tensed up at her unease. Then he realized how far he’d unknowingly wandered from the house they built together on the Surface. He grabbed her hand firmly and led the way back a little faster than he probably realized. He nodded with increasing vigorousness. “You’re right. We need to finish the pie.”

He all but pushed Zelda inside the house, and he closed and locked the door firmly behind them. Zelda flicked a bit of flour in Link’s face when he returned to the kitchen, and that got them both to laugh, eased some of the tension. She could have fooled herself into believing that everything was back to normal if she tried not to notice the way Link would keep glancing at the door and rubbing his ears like they hurt.

She felt a sudden urge to get to the temple and check the Master Sword. Something wasn’t right. Was Demise’s curse coming true already?

* * *

_ You're not a voice, you're just a ringing in my ear  
_ _ And if I heard you, which I don't, I'm spoken for I fear _

Link caught Zelda out of the corner of his eye, leaning back against the closed door of his quarters in a very Sheik way as she looked at him with concern.

Link immediately jumped to attention, knocking a map off the table in the process.

“As you were,” she began softly.

Link picked up the map and rearranged his scarf, but didn’t necessarily relax. “Did you need something, your majesty?”

She gazed over his shoulder at the battle maps and soldier rosters. “Something’s wrong.”

The fact that it wasn’t Impa telling him this made it seem even more serious. “Tell me what it is, and I’ll take care of it, princess.”

She sighed softly. “There was another brawl in one of the barracks.”

Link clenched his fists. “My apologies. It seems double shifts are not getting the message across clearly. Let’s see how they like mucking the stables as well.”

Zelda put a hand on Link’s shoulder armor. “I don’t believe disciplining them differently will fix anything.”

“I take it you have a suggestion then.”

“The soldiers’ morale often reflects that of their commanding officer.” Zelda crossed her arms in that very paradoxically kind but firm way she had about everything. “And honestly you’ve been extremely uneasy for the past week. It’s only natural that the soldiers sense it.”

Link clasped his hands behind himself and drew himself up to full height. “Forgive me, princess. I will contain my emotions better.”

“That’s not what I want. I want you to tell me what’s going on. And that’s an order, captain.” It was part tease, part serious. She must have learned it from Impa.

He couldn’t help but look at the door where he knew Zelda’s aforementioned bodyguard was standing behind it or somewhere else within earshot. Then Link’s eyes flicked to Zelda’s for just a moment before he fixed his gaze back on the wall straight ahead. “I’m...hearing something.”

She didn’t say anything and left the silence to bid him to continue.

“It’s distracting, but I can ignore it. I won’t let it become a problem.”

“What are you hearing? What is it saying?” Her voice was soft, and he was almost having trouble hearing it over the incessant melody.

“It’s not a voice. It’s a song of some kind played by an instrument. I may have hit my head too hard after I fell off my horse last week. It will fade away with time.”

“I haven’t heard voices, but I’ve had visions before.” Zelda smoothed out Link’s scarf and arranged a bit of hair that had tangled out of place in his fringe. “Captain Link, you and I are charged by the goddess with protecting this land. I need you to promise that whatever this song means you will put Hyrule above everything else.”

For as gentle as Zelda was, she radiated an impressive and undeniable strength that Link and all of the soldiers of Hyrule couldn't help but respect. She was honestly very intimidating even when she clearly didn’t mean to be. Link could never even think of disobeying her requests.

“Of course, your majesty. Even when I was still a knight in training, I swore would give my life for Hyrule.”

The pride in her eyes was enough to motivate armies, and it made Link feel a little lightheaded at being the soul recipient of her gaze. For those seconds, the entire castle could have collapsed and he wouldn’t have known it much less heard any song.

But as soon as she left the room, the melody returned in full force. Link braced against the table and forced himself to focus on the maps. He had people counting on him. _ She _ was counting on him. He was responsible for hundreds, for thousands of lives, and he couldn’t let anything distract him.

* * *

_ Everyone I've ever loved is here within these walls  
_ _ I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls _

Link looked at Malon’s sleeping form next to him. He ran his fingers through her hair and gently traced down her jawline.

That song could play all it wanted. He was probably the most determined mortal who had ever lived—not that he was born that way, but he’d been forged by some pretty dark fires. Unless the song manifested physical limbs strong enough to drag Link out of Malon’s arms then he wasn’t going anywhere.

Malon stirred, opening a heavy eyelid and seeing Link’s soul. “It’s getting worse, isn’t it? The song?”

Link kissed her forehead.

“I’m sorry, fairy boy.”

Another kiss on the forehead. Two pecks on the corner of her smile. A full kiss which turned desperate.

“Come back safe,” she whispered when they finally parted.

“I’m not leaving.” He said it with as much force as he could muster should the Goddesses be listening.

Malon gave him a complex look. A mature look that Link still hadn’t figured out how to do himself. It was one of brave reluctance, a fragile acceptance of something beyond her control, their control.

Link shook his head. He pulled her closer and locked his hands behind her. All she had to say was that she didn’t want him to leave then nothing in any realm could tear him away.

“I know who I married. If there’s darkness in Hyrule, you must be rid of it.”

She traced the back of his hand where the Triforce once glowed. She did this until she fell asleep.

Despite Link’s efforts, the sound of her breathing was drowned out by the song.

* * *

_ I've had my adventure, I don't need something new  
_ _ I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you _

Link sat in the crow’s nest. For not the first time since setting off with Tetra and her pirates, his thoughts were drawn to Aryll and his home island which he hadn’t seen in person in two years. However, the weight of the Phantom Sword on his back added a new sting to the homesickness.

When Link started hearing a song floating over the waves, Tetra immediately changed course toward where the song was strongest. She was acting like it really only was ten minutes like it seemed to the rest of the crew. They’d just gotten back after saving the world of the Ocean King from Bellum who literally sucked her life energy out, and she was already willing to go immediately into another battle? Just another thing that made Tetra unbelievably cool and terrifying at the same time.

Link held Aryll’s latest letter in his hand. He knew she would send another soon. He knew the village was taking good care of her, and it would never quite feel like home without Grandma there. But when he set off on Tetra’s ship with the promise of exploration, it wasn’t his intention to never see his sister again. Yet with all these rapid-fire adventures, he knew with each one he was playing with fate.

He loved exploring. Mapping the islands in the Great Sea was one of his most favorite things he’d ever done. Exploring the unique isles and taming their perils carried an element of danger of course, but none of them turned Tetra to stone.

He didn’t think he could tell Tetra to stop though. He could already see the look of condescension in her eyes, and she would call him a baby for wanting to turn around. More than anything, he wanted her to think he was cool. Her respect was something he would do and had done incredibly stupid things for. But was this a step too far?

Link opened his telescope and focused on the island they were approaching. He saw a small, purple  _ thing _ on the island. It seemed to be churning out dark energy. That had to be it.

Tetra yelled at him from the captain’s wheel to report what he saw.

Link reluctantly nodded. He couldn’t help a bit of his curiosity peeking out from its shell. What was it? Why was it here? Why was it calling to him?

Tetra expertly steered the ship, and Link slid down the ladder.

The crew was already roused to the deck for a boarding party that Tetra would of course lead with Link at her side. The anchors were down and the lifeboats were lowering.

Link swallowed. It was too late now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four: He eventually goes to find Princess Zelda because she never came to get him, and only then does he realize that he's the only one who can hear the song. She wishes him well, and he goes to investigate on his own.
> 
> Warrior: I know that he's supposed to be kind of a flirt, but I really like the idea that his relationship with Zelda is strictly professional. He just can't seem to breathe right when she looks at him, his heart freaks out in his chest when she smiles at him, and he's been having hot flashes whenever she's in the room. He thought he should go find a doctor to get that checked out, but Impa just laughed at him. How cruel, Impa. Health is no joke.
> 
> Sky: I love this angel child, and there is nothing I ship harder than him and Sun. Sun's also probably my favorite Zelda. She can't kick anyone's butt, but she's so sweet and happy. I think that's harder and harder to find in female characters nowadays.
> 
> Time: I feel like Time would really have a hard time leaving his only happiness just for the promise of adventure. But Malon knows that this is just what happens when he's the Goddesses' chosen.
> 
> Wind: Don't worry. Tetra already knows that she has Wind whipped. He'll figure everything out when he's a little older. Would almost bet that Tetra kicked Wind through the portal first Spartan-style to make sure it was safe. Too bad it only lets those who Dark Link wants pass through.


	2. Wild, Legend, Twilight, Hyrule

_ What do you want? 'Cause you've been keeping me awake  
_ _ Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake? _

This was it. The air seemed to thrum with energy that pulsed from the triangle-shaped anomaly. A quick scan and the slate beeped and dinged to the conclusion that for as advanced as the Sheikah tech was, it was just as clueless about this thing was as Link was.

As he closed out the error messages, he couldn’t help but notice the time in the corner of the screen. Guilt started to gnaw at him.

Though the guards did a good enough job to make the castle the safest place in Hyrule, he was still the princess’s personal knight. He was committing treason at the very least when he teleported secretly to find and end the source of that  _ stupid _ song.

Although he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be capable of performing his duty if this song kept up. He hadn’t slept more than thirty minutes in the last four days. A Yiga almost took Zelda’s hand off when they were traveling because Link was so out of it. He had one job, one chance to make up for his mistakes. Something this incredibly distracting had to be silenced.

Link flicked through even his most obscure items on the Slate, throwing angry looks at the mysterious void every once in a while as he tried to find something in his inventory that would remove it. Unfortunately, short of throwing a few bombs at it, he had no magical void–destroying item.

He thought about asking Zelda for help. But between the two of them, she  _ sealed _ darkness and kept it at bay. He was the one who  _ destroyed _ it and kept it from ever returning. Only if he absolutely couldn’t find a way to get rid of this thing would he ask her to seal it. He thought better of even telling her about it until it got to that point because she’d probably want to come and study it or something, and he was horrible at saying no to her.

He ran a hand down his face, grimacing at how big the bags were under his eyes. Was there a magical item he’d have to find somewhere? Some dungeon he’d forgotten to complete? The slate shook in his hands as his finger drug around the map. He was absolutely certain that he’d been to every nook and cranny of the entire continent at some point on his journey. Was there anything he’d missed? Any rumor he’d not checked out? Any favor left undone? 

Link almost dropped the slate to press his hands against the sides of his head. The song suddenly blared even louder like it knew he was planning its eradication.

Link shivered as he could have sworn on top of the constant droning melody he heard cruel laughter waft through the shadowy void.

* * *

_ Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me?  
_ _ Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be? _

“You think I’m that easy, huh?”

Link crossed his arms. This was quite easily the most annoying void he’d ever encountered.

“You think if you open any portal in front of me that I’ll just waltz right through it like some basic hero?”

He looked over his shoulder and stretched.

“Maybe I have things to do? Did you think of that?”

From all the way across Hyrule, he could have sworn he heard Ravio laughing at him. The half-wit taunted him every time he happened by his shop that he was surprised Link was still around. He thought Link would have let his increasingly growing wanderlust bring him somewhere far away by now.

It might have been Link’s imagination, but the song that droned out of the portal seemed to get even louder somehow.

“I bet you say that to all the heroes.”

* * *

_ Every day's a little harder as I feel your power grow  
_ _ Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go _

Link snapped back to himself just as his fingers brushed the edge of the portal. He flinched, pressing his hands to his sides and forcing himself to take a few steps backward.

The portal laughed. It was cruel-sounding, just like her laugher sounded when he first met her, but the voice’s timbre was off. It wasn’t her. 

The magic didn’t feel quite like hers either. It was Dark for certain. The Shadow Crystal that hung around Link’s neck flickered, responding in some way to the similar nature of their magics, but it wasn’t the vibrant glow like when she held it. It wasn’t pure Shadow magic.

He thought about calling out for her again or tossing yet another letter through. The portal was too dark to see if it would lead him to the Twilight realm like he so desperately hoped, and no response came back through. Nothing but the relentless song and the mocking laughter.

He knew it was optimistic, but maybe this is why she destroyed the mirror? She wasn’t abandoning him. She had another way to see him. And all he had to do was step through it. Sure it had been almost ten years, but who else would be creating a Dark magic portal that emitted a song that only Link could hear?

Ganondorf, that’s who. There was Link’s voice of reason that sounded oddly like an undead mentor of his.

This type of magic was much more similar to true Dark magic—like Ganondorf’s magic. This could be a trap. Probably was a trap. And yet he wasn’t so sure if he cared.

There was no possibility for him to get to the Twilight Realm from Hyrule or possibly even from anywhere in the Light Realm. Maybe if he could somehow find whatever item or magic made these portals, he could use it to create his own portal to the Twilight Realm?

He’d become quite accustomed to Shadow magic. Even to the point of being able to manipulate the Shadow Crystal’s magic enough to transform himself back and forth from his wolf form on his own. And he’d defeated Ganondorf. Darker magics didn’t scare him.

He reached out again, the smoke from the portal leaping out at his fingers and beckoning him closer, closer.

“ _ Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will, before long, be ruled by it. _ ” Lanayru’s warning taunted him. “ _ Never forget that, _ ” it said. And Link never had. 

Even after seeing the light spirit’s traumatizing vision, he’d gone with Midna to collect the last piece of the Fused Shadow—a Twili magic artifact so evil that it was under the goddesses’s direct orders that it be broken and hidden. Yet, without using this dark item, they never would have been able to get through Ganondorf’s shield around Hyrule Castle to defeat him and save Zelda.

He stepped one foot in, and the portal writhed. He half expected some huge hand to reach out and pull him forcefully through the rest of the way, but nothing happened.

Link’s personal experience rather than Lanayru’s warning had sparked a healthy fear of magic in Link, but for the same reasons, he knew that sometimes it was necessary.

One more foot. 

He’d be smart about it, he told himself. He wouldn’t let Dark magic use him. Just like Shadow magic, he would just learn to control it. He’d use it to get the closure his heart needed—needed so badly he was sure he would end up just like the Hero’s Shade if he didn’t get it before he died.

He inched forward just a little before the world around him warped, and he stepped into a new world.

* * *

_ Where are you going? Don’t leave me alone.  
_ _ How do I follow you into the unknown? _

Link stepped out of the portal and was absolutely quivering with excitement with what he saw in front of him. Honestly he shouldn’t have been. All forests probably looked similar no matter what side of a portal they were on, but why did it bring him here to this spot? What was next?

He was beside himself and couldn’t help calling out.

“Hello? I’m here! I made it!”

He didn’t know who he was yelling for, but he intended to find them, whoever they were. He felt it in his soul, in the magic that flowed through his veins. This was to be the start of a brand new journey! So without map and without plan, he ventured as he always had and always would.

He was too busy admiring the fairies that hovered lazily above a spring he’d found to notice that someone else was approaching him.

“Hello?”

When Link turned around, he saw a figure with a four-colored tunic. He didn’t know why, but something about this other boy made him smile. Maybe it was the faint hum of magic about him or the honest look in his eyes. Regardless, Link approached him with an awe and shook the other’s hand—another lefty, go figure.

“This may be a strange question, but do you know where this is?”

Hyrule chuckled. “No idea. Want to explore together?”

The other maintained a vaguely entertained expression as he shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Always glad for some company.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of wanted Legend's bit to be longer, but since he's got the Hero's wanderlust so bad that he can't even think of settling down somewhere and how he was very proud to be the first to go through the portal in the comic, I feel like realistically he didn't spend much time making up his mind to go through. But he can't seem desperate. He's a classy hero.
> 
> It might be an unpopular opinion, but I really don't think Midna likes Twi like that. I think 17-year-old Twilight did like-like Midna, and the fact that several years have passed between the events of TP and the LU, I think absence has made the heart grow fonder in Twilight's case. However, I don't think the same has happened for Midna. She manipulated and used him for a lot of the game, and sure she had some character development, but I think at most she thought of him as just someone she could trust, a friend.
> 
> I feel like I know Hyrule's character the least. I was thinking that since he's the Traveler Hero, he enjoys traveling so maybe a portal would be kind of exciting to him. I don't know.
> 
> I'm not the proudest of this little fic, but it was fun.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> The song lyrics are "Into the Unknown" from Disney's Frozen 2 and sung by Idina Menzel and AURORA.
> 
> Overall, with this fic I was going off the headcanon that every Link still shares a hardcore wanderlust despite all the frankly traumatic things that happened to them, but that doesn't mean that they were diving head-first. Just means they resisted a little. They know the drill too well though.
> 
> Jojo's left their ages kind of ambiguous, but still, it's interesting to think that for most of the heroes (excluding Time and possibly Warrior and Twilight) there was maybe only a couple year's turnaround between their last adventure and joining up to do LU shenanigans. Poor babies had a lot of stuff to process and not nearly enough time to do it.


End file.
